Water wise: Filling stations added

2013-01-28 09:11:49

UC Irvine staff member Amy Provorse was visiting her daughter at Northern Arizona University when she came upon a hydration station where she could refill her beverage container with filtered water – just like the bottled stuff people pay good money for, but it didn't cost her a cent.

"It tasted like spring water," she said. "I thought it was the hippest thing."

Provorse, senior superintendent of skilled trades in UCI's Facilities Management Department, liked the hydration station so much she pitched the idea to her colleagues, and in fall 2010, they installed one in Rowland Hall. Students thought the amenity was hip, too, and began asking for additional stations, but there wasn't money in the budget.

The project might have run dry if not for An Vinh Tran and the Green Initiative Fund, a student-run entity that supports sustainability efforts on campus. Thanks to the student-staff partnership, hydration stations have sprung up all over campus, saving water and reducing plastic pollution with every fill-up.

"The typical bottle of water holds a liter. It takes three times that amount plus one-quarter liter of oil to make a plastic bottle," Tran said. "The stations save oil and water."

Tran, who graduated in 2012, began her conservation effort two years ago when she was studying water-usage policy and learned of a disturbing statistic: Only 2.5 percent of the world's water supply is fresh water, and the amount available for drinking, agriculture and other uses is steadily decreasing because of global warming and growing consumption.

"That number bothered me. It opened my eyes," she said. "We take water for granted because it's so cheap, but in the future, there's going to be a shortage."

Tran contacted the Green Initiative Fund and eventually secured two $17,000 grants for six more hydration stations and replacement filters on campus.

In spring 2011, Facilities Management, led by plumbing supervisor Juan Tapia, installed the six stations and retrofitted water fountains with goosenecks that delivered filtered water at another 22 locations in UCI's core buildings. The Green Initiative Fund awarded grants for hydration stations to be placed in residence halls, the Student Center and the Cross-Cultural Center.

The stations and goosenecks dispense 60,000 gallons of filtered water per year (based on meter readings), a savings of 475,000 bottles – or 13 tons of plastic. "And that's a conservative estimate of their environmental impact," said Anne Krieghoff, Facilities Management's superintendent of solid waste and recycling services. "It really adds up."

The campus has seen a 17 percent drop in bottled-water sales for 2011-12.

The campaign at UCI is having a ripple effect. Facilities Management has received calls from other universities, high schools and water districts interested in the stations, while Tran has fielded inquiries from students on other campuses.

"I've changed a lot of my behaviors, but I can't do it on my own," she said.